The Way Of Harmony: A Guide To Self Knowledge Through The Arts Of Tʾai Chi Chuan, Hsing I, Pa Kua, And Chi Kung

196 Pages·1989·38.65 MB·English

by  Howard Reid

THE WAY OF
HARMONY
A
Guide Self-Knowledge Through
to
Arts Chi Chuan, Hsing
the ofT'ai I
,
Pa Kua and Chi Kung
f
v
r
Digitized by the Internet Archive
2017 with funding from
in
Kahle/Austin Foundation
https://archive.org/details/wayofharmonyguidOOreid

WAY
THE
OF
HARMONY
*
A
Guide Self-Knowledge Through
to
the Arts of T’ai Chi Chuan, Using I,
Pa Kua, and Chi Rung
By Howard
Reid
with Danny Connor, Lam Kam Chuen,
Nigel Sutton and Robin Rusher
Photography by Fausto Dorelli
*>•»
A GAIA ORIGINAL
A FIRESIDE BOOK
PUBLISHED BY SIMON & SCHUSTER INC
NEW YORK LONDON TORONTO SYDNEY TOKYO
A GAIA ORIGINAL
Written by Howard Reid Editorial Roslin Mair
Design Sara Mathews
with Danny Connor
Lam Kam Chuen Illustration Debbie Hinks
Brian McKenzie
Nigel Sutton
Calligraphy Mew Hong Tan
Robin Rusher
Production Susan Walby
Photography by Fausto Dorelli
Direction Lucy Lidell
Casey Horton, Patrick Nugent
©
Copyright 1988 by Gaia Books Limited, London
All rights reserved including the right of
reproduction in whole or in part in any form
Simon and Schuster/Fireside Books,
&
Published by Simon Schuster Inc.
&
Simon Schuster Building
Rockefeller Center
1230 Avenue of the Americas
New York, New York 10020
SIMON AND SCHUSTER, FIRESIDE, and
&
colophons are registered trademarks of Simon
Schuster Inc.
First published in 1988 in Great Britain
by Unwin Hyman Limited, London
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Reid, Howard.
The way of harmony: a guide to self-knowledge through the arts of
T’ai Chi Chuan, Hsing I, Pa Kua, and Chi Kung by Howard Reid:
/
with Danny Connor ... [et ah] photography by Fausto Dorelli.
;
cm.
p.
“A Gaia original.”
Includes index.
ISBN 0-671-67010-7. ISBN 0-671-66632-0 (A Fireside book pbk.)
:
1. Exercise. 2. Exercise therapy. 3. Medicine, Chinese.
I. Title.
RA781.R35 1989 88-16946
613.7—dc!9 CIP
987654321
10
987654321
10 Pbk.
Printed and bound in Spain by
Artes Graficas Toledo S.A.
D.L.TO.: 895-1988 Pbk
Notes on pronunciation of Chinese terms
The key words in this book are sets of Chinese characters
representing concepts rather than sounds. While the written
language of China, Standard Chinese or Mandarin, common
is
to hundreds of millions of Chinese nationals, the spoken word
is far more complicated. There is a bewildering array of
regional and local dialects - a Cantonese cannot understand
spoken Mandarin at all, and someone from Shanghai is barely
intelligible to either of the latter. This situation inevitably
complicates attempts to give standard Chinese pronunciation
for Westerners. There are, however, traditional Western
pronunciations for the chief terms used in this book:
Chi pronounced “chee”; Tan Tien “dan dee-en”;
is
Chi Kung “chee goong”; Ba Duan Jin “ba doo-wan
jin”; Hsing I is “sing yee”, with a slight aspiration on
the “s”; Pa Kua is “ba gwa”; and T’ai Chi Chuan is
pronounced “tie chee choo-wan”.
Unfortunately, this standard usage has a few inconsistencies.
Ba and pa are both pronounced “ba” (both mean eight); and
Hsing I and Pa Kua should be fully titled as Hsing I Chuan
and Pa Kua Chang.
Spellings of Chinese terms
The spellings used in this edition are also standard in Western
martial arts’ usage. However, it should be noted that the Pin
Yin transliteration advised by the People’s Republic of China,
and thought by some to give a closer indication of correct
pronunciation, is now predominant in the Western media (for
example, Peking is spelled Beijing). The Pin Yin spellings of
the key Chinese words used in this book are as follows:
Chi —Qi\ Tan tien - Dan tien\ Chi Kung —Qi Gong, Caution
Ba Duan Jin - Ba Duan Gin\ Hsing I - Xing Yi; Pa Kua The instructions and advice
- Ba Gua\ T’ai Chi Chuan - Tai JiQuan. in this book are in no way
intended as a substitutefor
Special martial arts’ terms medical counseling. Before
There are other special martial terms apart from the Chinese beginning this or any
words mentioned above. Most common of these is the verb regimen ofexercise, it is
“to circle”, which applies to arm movements within the important thatyou consult
exercises. Whether you are circling up or down, or to one side yourphysician — especially
or the other, this action is a smooth, rounded one, with the ifyou are pregnant, taking
movement of the curved arm describing an arc. The arrows medication, or have any
that appear in the illustrations of the exercises will help to serious medical conditions.
guide you in the circling movements. Another word The publishers disclaim
commonly used in the martial arts is “form”, meaning an any liability or loss,
exercise or position. A form may be an extended sequence, personal or otherwise,
such as the T’ai Chi Short Form, or just a few steps, as in the resultingfrom procedures
Twelve Animal forms in Hsing I. in this book.
)
,
Contents
Introduction 8
ONE
PART
The Arts 21
Soft
Kung
Chi Breath power 22
1
:
Hsing Ways harmony 44
2: I to
Kua
Pa Eternal change 64
3:
Chuan
T’ai Chi The art awareness 82
4: of
TWO
PART
Way
The Balanced 47
1
Oriental paths to balance 148
5:
Therapeutic uses 172
6:
Index and bibliography 189
All things are backed by the Shade Yin
(
And
faced by the light (Yang)
And
harmonised by the immaterial Breath (Chi).
From Lao Tzu’s Tao Te Ching

THE WAY OF HARMONY
8